Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Golden Lifeline (2)
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Oz first learned Ivan's name on the day the Academy's first exam results were announced.
That was when she first even realized there was a student named Ivan.
As it turned out, he was the guy with the perpetually dazed expression, so faint a presence that you might not even notice if he was in the lecture hall or not.
He attended classes in a half-hearted sort of way.
He always seemed lost in his own thoughts.
And yet, that guy had taken first place in the first exam.
It was impossible not to feel a sting of wounded pride.
Lots of people seemed to feel the same way she did.
But for her, that feeling burned a whole lot stronger than for anyone else.
The genius of the century.
Her family expected her to be the second Transcendent to emerge from their line since the most recent one—a mage—and those expectations had soon spread to everyone around them.
Countless hopes and pressures.
Oz had always brushed such things off as no big deal before, but her mindset shifted a little after the family went to great lengths to request instruction from a Transcendent mage one day, only to be bluntly turned down.
Am I not talented enough for that level?
The thought pierced her heart like a needle, bit by bit.
That small wound she'd shrugged off grew wider with time.
Before she knew it, Oz was putting even more pressure on herself.
And then, she lost first place in the first exam.
She'd been outdone in talent. Anyone who saw how actively she participated in classes and how hard she studied would have to think the same.
After all, Ivan hadn't studied as hard as she had, nor had he ever shown any passionate effort.
It was a sense of inferiority.
She never voiced it as blatantly as some others might have, but she knew it better than anyone.
Still, Oz turned that inferiority into fuel and worked even harder.
And in the next exam...
Oz took first place.
Ivan's scores fell far behind, and with them, the mocking voices grew louder.
The thrill of watching someone at the top come crashing down felt almost contagious, like a plague.
Oz didn't feel outright glee, but she did feel a sense of relief.
Relief that he didn't seem better than her.
Relief that her own talent wasn't fake.
That feeling didn't fade easily.
Maybe it was just a fluke.
She cautioned herself inwardly like that, but every exam after ended the same way.
Oz was always number one.
And through it all, Ivan never changed.
No matter if he was bumped from first or his scores sank low, he never wavered. No anger, no sadness.
He still attended lectures with those half-dazed eyes, and his expression stayed the same whether he'd taken first or not.
That indifference never let up.
Not for the entire time at the Academy.
It happened by chance one day.
Rushing down the hallway to the next class, Oz heard a voice.
"This is it!"
It clearly came from an empty lecture hall with no class scheduled, but the voice rang out sharp enough to catch her ear. Curiosity bubbled up.
She cautiously peeked inside—the door was slightly ajar.
Ivan was there alone.
He held a booklet high in both hands, grinning brighter than she could ever have imagined.
It was the first time she'd seen him look that happy since starting at the Academy.
"Yes! With this method, I can maintain the construct for so much longer!"
His face shone with genuine delight.
What could make him so thrilled?
Oz stared blankly for a moment.
I don't think I've ever seen him that happy before.
He didn't even look like that when he took first in the exam.
Her curiosity deepened, and she eyed the booklet in his hands. She soon realized it was an academic journal distributed by the Magic Tower Council.
So he had his own thing he loved.
In that instant, Oz felt a strange sense of dissonance.
Suddenly, all the emotions she'd harbored toward him felt utterly pointless.
Specifically, the inferiority and rivalry she'd felt.
Maybe I'd been stressing over something pointless from the start.
He seemed freer than anyone.
Unshaken by grades, unbound by others' gazes.
"...Huh?"
At that moment, Ivan seemed to notice her presence outside and turned his head.
Oz reflexively ducked behind the door.
For some reason, her heart pounded wildly.
I almost got caught spying.
Not exactly proper behavior for a duke's daughter.
Oz calmed her racing heart and hurried past the empty lecture hall.
And so time passed, until the final semester.
With graduation looming, the final grades were posted.
"Oz, first place again! Congrats."
"Lady Oz, congratulations. The young nobles are planning a party—would you join us?"
Amid the flood of congratulations, Oz did as always and sought out Ivan first.
Off in the distance, he stood alone, staring at the grade sheet.
His rank: 11th.
He'd always been in the top 10, but this was the first time he'd slipped out.
Yet a faint smile played on Ivan's lips as he looked at the sheet.
...He's pleased.
It was a subtle expression others might miss, but Oz saw it clearly.
A small sense of satisfaction... maybe?
At some point, she had started reading his expressions effortlessly.
And realizing that filled her with an inexplicable doubt about herself.
It laid bare just how much attention she'd been paying him all this time.
To notice even the tiniest changes in his face.
She needed to stop paying him so much mind.
Graduation's coming soon anyway.
But what would he do after graduating?
No, stop it.
After graduating from the Academy, Oz devoted herself entirely to training.
She'd already reached the 6th Circle by graduation, so now the path to the 7th was all that remained.
But it was far from easy.
Some said that once you broke through the 5th Circle wall, the rest up to 7th came more smoothly—but to Oz, every single Circle from the 5th onward felt like its own wall.
Of course, telling others that might get her called delusional.
But to Oz, who measured herself against Transcendents, it was undeniably true.
One day, as she continued her training...
A name she'd thought she'd forgotten suddenly resurfaced in her mind.
Ivan.
What was he up to now?
She heard he was pursuing graduate studies under Professor Palrez.
Palrez wasn't particularly renowned. Just an average professor, not very popular, from what she recalled.
But Oz understood soon enough.
The academic journal he'd been so excited about.
Probably that field.
At least he seemed to be walking a path he loved, so Oz let it go without dwelling further.
Then, at some point, news of him started reaching her without her even seeking it out.
Ivan Vieirn's name was slowly rising to the surface, drawing the world's eyes.
The trigger was the pattern recognition device.
Word spread first in the magic world, where personal labs were held sacred above all.
At first, everyone focused on Palrez's name, but he soon spoke up himself.
All the ideas had come straight from Ivan Vieirn's head.
Even the imperial court was taking notice as the communication orb's potential applications emerged one by one.
She'd thought he was just doing what he loved...
You can shine like that even while pursuing your passion.
They said true talent stands out without being forced.
Wasn't that real talent?
Of course, Oz didn't hate magic.
But she was following a set path, while Ivan blazed his own trail where no one else went—and still shone brightly.
And strangely, that fact brought Oz not jealousy, but a peculiar hope.
It was too big a feeling to keep to herself.
So for the first time, she confided her heart—thoughts she'd kept bottled up—to her grandfather, Parovian.
He neither gave her answers about those feelings nor reacted with much enthusiasm.
Embarrassing her enough that she'd brought it up in the first place.
She made him promise not to tell a soul.
And not long after, as if by some miracle, she ran right into Ivan.
At the place she'd rushed to upon hearing her grandfather was badly injured.
At first, it was so unexpected she thought she'd seen wrong.
Am I so obsessed that I'm hallucinating?
But that realistic face—somehow still looking a bit dopey—couldn't be imaginary.
Once she confirmed her grandfather was fine, another worry surfaced.
Were they acquaintances?
Her heart sank at the thought he might have heard about her feelings.
She'd clamped down so tightly on loose lips—surely not.
Fortunately, he seemed oblivious.
But the real issue was elsewhere.
Her grandfather and Ivan had taken on a suicide mission together, marching straight into death.
Anyone could see they wouldn't return... and yet they came back alive and well, with the imperial court recognizing his merits.
Ivan Vieirn.
He kept forging his own path amid all the negative gazes around him.
And Oz found an opportunity in that.
A chance to turn the "help" she'd only imagined in her heart into action.
Nothing grand, but she wanted to smooth his way even a little.
Even if Ivan wandered off lost in thought as always, helping through Palrez would be enough.
And now...
"Hm-hm-hmm~"
"Miss, something good happen?"
"Huh? Why?"
"I've never seen you humming before."
Oz emerged from the study, arms full of magic books.
The maid hurried over to take them, but she shook her head.
She planned to deliver them herself.
Ivan was staying in the same place as her right now.
Until he secured new land and built his training grounds, he'd agreed to stay with the Eldis Family for a while and train.
Surprisingly, her father's talk with Ivan wrapped up quickly.
He'd not only approved lending the land but also Ivan staying there in the meantime.
Oz hadn't expected it to go so smoothly, so she couldn't help asking why.
"He promised to prioritize supplying communication orbs to our territory."
"...Really?"
"The political issues are settled, so now it's just a matter of rollout. Front lines come first, but if we get them early and start training, it'll be a huge advantage. Tactics will change, maybe even the whole battlefield."
Oz had heard a bit about it from Palrez.
Artifacts like communication orbs needed circuits. You could lay out the framework ahead of time, but completing them required mana.
But suitable mages to supply that mana were scarce.
Mages were high-level talent, after all.
Deployment had dragged due to nobles jostling for a piece of the pie, but thankfully, the emperor had stepped in recently to resolve it.
The nobles she'd introduced to Palrez had also wrapped things up nicely, so there shouldn't be more delays.
Either way, everything was going smoothly.
Oz adjusted the books in her arms and headed to the training grounds.
There, Ivan was practicing magic in front of an artifact covered in a yellow sheen.
He sensed her approach and turned.
"You brought them yourself?"
He came over in surprise and took the books.
As she handed them off, their hands brushed, and Oz jolted back.
Ivan gave her a puzzled look.
She spoke up in a rush.
"Uh, right... You said you needed 4th Circle spells besides ice ones?"
"Yeah, for now. Thanks. I'll pay for them."
She started to say it was fine, but his earlier words nagged at her.
"For now? What else do you need?"
"Ice-affinity 6th Circle spells too."
"Then those as well... Wait, what?"
Oz belatedly realized something was off.
"6th Circle?"